Romance of the Summer

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three works that reflect on the allure—or not—of summer.  In Massimo Bontempelli’s “The Miraculous Beach or, Prize for Modesty,” translated by Jenny McPhee, a hot summer in Rome produces a magical moment.  The reader is Hugh Dancy.  Essayist and humorist Samantha Irby could do without summer, thank you, and makes “A Case for Remaining in Doors”, performed by Retta.  And Denis O’Hare reads a baseball classic, W.P. Kinsella’s “The Thrill of the Grass.”